My trickle charger was flashing oddly when I put the GT4 away yesterday so I checked the car this morning as it was playing on my mind. The battery was dead and fobs would not work. Tried to open the door and the alarm went off so called Porsche Assist. They came in 40 mins and we got it started but the battery was not taking any charge and there is an LED on top of it flashing green/red but everything else seemed ok. They offered to get it to my OPC but I know it'll just be sitting there all weekend so I opted to get it sorted on Monday.

Has this happened to anyone else? Sounds like the battery is fked. Can a trickle charger drain a battery? Never had a hint of trouble and the car only does long runs_________________GT4

No doubt it has one of those terrible battery's that Porsche insist on for their warranty, so likely just failed at the first hint of cold weather_________________LoFi
------------------------------------
996 turbo tip
ex 944 2.5 manual
ex 964 C4 manual

G2Nürburgring

Joined: 26 Oct 2015Posts: 487

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2017 10:55 pm Post subject:

Yep. 3-5 year life usually in these chocolate batteries. Usually see these posts a lot during the Spring wake up time.

Lots of lights on dash when you jump start the car, pasm, abs etc warning, but will clear once you have the battery replaced and drive a short distance.

Procedure in the owners manual for opening the lid to get to the battery by connecting another battery to a terminal in the fuse box if the usual fob/switches don't work on Monday.

Exactly the same happened to me last week. Battery was flat so went through the rigmarole of popping the bonnet ant jump starting. Connected the trickle charger thinking that would sort it. 3 days latter changed the battery as the battery was taking no charge. It’s all good now.

Battery was only 3 years old!?_________________Some cars, a truck & a motorbike.

If the battery is less than 3yrs old surely it's a straight warranty free replacement job

My record for battery life was 14yrs on my Audi. They don't make 'em liked they used to _________________Me? The 13th Duke of Wybourne? Here? In a sixth form girl's dormitory? At three o'clock in the morning? With my reputation? What were they thinking of?

ScotGT4Trainee

Joined: 25 Dec 2015Posts: 56

Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2017 10:46 am Post subject:

Thanks for the replies good/bad to know other people have had the same. The Battery isn't even two years old so surely will be covered. I will know tomorrow!

Had a restless night worrying the alarm would go off again and pee off the neighbours.
_________________GT4

2 years old is poor, even for these Moll batteries they insist on fitting and then make you keep if you have a Porsche Warranty as Lofi says, hopefully they’ll do the right thing tomorrow.

My previous 997 had one, it was always lazy regardless of being trickle charged so didn’t wait for it to let me down and changed it for a Bosch, which was so much livelier. Gave me a sense of security even in deepest winter that I now don’t have again as the new to me GT3 has a Moll. In fairness it's cranking fine, but any sign of weakness and it’s out of there

ScotGT4Trainee

Joined: 25 Dec 2015Posts: 56

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 3:00 pm Post subject:

Spoke to OPC today and they have to order battery in then cycle it for 24 hrs?

For the warranty claim they have to have the car for 24hrs connected to the old battery to check for other faults and see it is really buggered. Will know by Friday._________________GT4

Previous - Cayman GTS

Rhodris-dadMontreal

Joined: 28 Nov 2013Posts: 511Location: RHYL

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 3:40 pm Post subject:

Zingari wrote:

If the battery is less than 3yrs old surely it's a straight warranty free replacement job

My record for battery life was 14yrs on my Audi. They don't make 'em liked they used to

I cannot remember a car that I have owned that has never needed a new battery.

My 996 needed 2 in 4 years of ownership.
My 997 needed a new one, which I bought off the AA but then when the warranty was due for renewal, I had to buy a Porsche battery to pass the 111 point check.

Maybe, I should change my name to Exide.

As for ownership of a Tessler....

ScotGT4Trainee

Joined: 25 Dec 2015Posts: 56

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 6:31 pm Post subject:

Car went in today and it seems I have a special light weight battery that was not mentioned in the specs when I bought it. It aparantly depletes and charges really quick? It also cost £3000! They reckon my drive there already started charging it and they are fully charging it tonight to test it.

Does anyone know anything about these battery’s? Does what they are telling me sound right? I’m not up on them._________________GT4

So are they saying there’s nothing wrong with your battery after all, subject to their testing? Seems odd given you couldn’t get it to take a charge, maybe if it completely depletes it won’t take a trickle

cheshire911Estoril

Joined: 10 Jun 2012Posts: 3523

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:27 pm Post subject:

Seems you have the option of lithium-ion lightweight battery. It is around 18aH compared to a stock battery of 60-80aH.

It was (is?) an option on GT3 and RS. Not sure about £3000 though. That seems to be figure materialising from a hallucination! The option at Porsche North America was $1700 option.

As this is no ordinary battery (if its the one you have) then I'd say its only OPC that can advise you on a solution - be it a replacement or a recharge if they pronounce there's nowt wrong wi' it._________________996 2002 X50 Turbo Manual
"Once bitten; forever smitten"

ScotGT4Trainee

Joined: 25 Dec 2015Posts: 56

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 1:38 pm Post subject:

Got the car back! Just went for an hours thrash around Kent.

Yes it was the light weight battery option that practically no one ordered with them new. Cost £1300 as an option but more when you need to replace a bit like PCCB's but at least not 3x!

The OPC I bought it from never mentioned it so I was using a standard trickle charger that doesn't work of course. Hence total drain. Now have ordered the "special" trickle ££££

On the plus side my car is lighter and I actually paid less overs than the car cost when it was new _________________GT4

Previous - Cayman GTS

cheshire911Estoril

Joined: 10 Jun 2012Posts: 3523

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 1:49 pm Post subject:

Glad to hear you are sorted. It is considerably lighter than a standard battery and doesn't lose anything despite the lower Amp Hourage.

With such a specialist battery, it is better to go by what the OPC tells you - for instance that a standard trickle charger wont work and glad to hear that you have a special trickle charger for it.

If you go to any OPC with the VIN no. they can print out the factory specifications and options the car was built to - for future reference._________________996 2002 X50 Turbo Manual
"Once bitten; forever smitten"

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